A woman is facing jail for giving herself an abortion, and yes, it’s in the US
News alert: a woman faces even more jail time for giving herself an abortion. Even worse, this is happening in the US.
Anna Yocca’s story is one of horror and sounds like something out of a bad TV movie, but it’s not a movie, it’s real life. It’s a real case that is actually happening in the US, which is definitely shocking.
According to reports, the 32-year-old Tennessee woman has already served almost one year in jail for charges of attempted first-degree murder. The charge was eventually reduced to aggravated assault, but the important thing to note is that she didn’t murder anyone or attack anyone but herself — and her fetus.
Yocca's crime was in fact attempting to give herself an abortion with a coat hanger, which is scary and very dangerous, but should it be something you go to jail for? This is the question that has many people talking and it's for good reason.
The initial incident took place back in 2015, but Yocca is back in the news because she is now facing new charges. Three different felony charges, to be exact, including, aggravated assault with a weapon, attempted criminal abortion and attempted procurement of a miscarriage.
Anna Yocca didn’t know she had options for a safe abortion.
One of the real tragedies in this story is that Yocca could have had a safe, legal abortion, but confusing legal standards led her to think otherwise.
"Anna Yocca tried to end her pregnancy because she felt she had no other option, and her boyfriend helped her seek medical attention out of concern for her life," executive director at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Jessica González-Rojas said in a statement via Refinery 29.
"Nothing in this heartbreaking story gives cause for prosecution. No woman should fear arrest or jail time because she ends her pregnancy or seeks medical help in this situation. Instead, we should ensure that however a woman decides to end her pregnancy, she is able to do so safely and effectively," she added.
While everyone should have a right to do what they want with their own body — or at least that’s what we’re all fighting for — Yocca isn’t the only woman dealing with jail time for having an abortion.
Where this gets even scarier for those seeking an abortion:
In Tennessee there is a concerning new trend of feticide laws — laws initially passed to protect pregnant women from violence — that are a new way to imprison the women they were meant to protect.
In fact, having an abortion is actually legal in Tennessee, but that hasn't stopped the courts from intervening in numerous cases of abortions and creating new restrictions on how and when women can get one and therefore women have been turning to unsafe methods to fix their pregnancy problems.
The key to Yocca’s case and many women like her is that having an abortion is not illegal, even if she went about it in an unsafe manner. But complex restrictions can lead to confusion, fear, and in this case, unsafe procedures.
The system is clearly not working if women can’t even tell whether their abortion is legal or not. Luckily, you can get involved and fight for reproductive rights for all women here.
